How gaming brands can reach their favorite audience
Best practices to engage with gamers, even with event cancellations.
How gaming brands can reach their favorite audience.
One of the most influential showcases for the gaming industry, E3, is canceled this year. The convention was historically used as a showcase of games from the biggest players in the industry (pun intended).
The showcase being canceled is a bummer for some redditors that were looking forward to learning what’s to come from the industry. So now where are they going to discover what’s next? You guessed it—Reddit. It’s just one of the reasons Reddit is where gaming companies go to level up their game launch. Even beyond game launches, major gaming brands leverage Reddit to up their lifecycle marketing with: from beta announcements, pre-ordered, and exclusive community deals, to content drops and exclusive gameplay trailers.
Gamers say gaming content on Reddit, including ads1:
- Makes them more likely to purchase or download a game.
- Helps them make faster purchasing decisions.
- Makes them more likely to recommend a gaming brand, product, or service.
Best of all, redditors want to see and hear from gaming brands.
89%
of redditors who game say they are more likely to trust a gaming brand they can engage with on Reddit.2
86%
of redditors who game say they are more likely to be loyal to a gaming brand they can engage with on Reddit.2
If you’ve been looking for the right time to reach gamers on Reddit, this is it.
Not sure where to get started? Our in-house creative strategy team, KarmaLab has your cheat codes to level up your approach on Reddit.
3 best practices for activating Reddit’s gaming audience
There are all kinds of gaming communities on Reddit, from those dedicated to specific games and consoles, to those that bring together authentic gaming culture. Whatever your focus is, there’s a home for it on Reddit, and a thoughtful way to design your creative to resonate with unique gaming communities.
Here are some best practices from Reddit’s KarmaLab to help your gaming brand stand out:
1. Be clear on the game’s basics.
Redditors are curious, and they want to know the basics about a new game—even better if they can get all that information in one place.
What’s the game called? What’s the basic premise? When does it launch? Is it free to play, available on an app or console/PC only? Is it a legacy edition or a brand new title? What’s changed since the last version? With so many choices out there, it’s never been more important to include easy instructions for those you want to play.
2. Give Reddit’s gamers a leading edge.
In the gaming world, a little bonus never hurt anyone. Especially since gamers are so used to paying for skins, upgrades, and other in-game tools. Redditors even moreso—they’re 2x more likely than the gen pop to have purchased an add-on or DLC in the past month3. This is your chance to turn the tables and give users something cool; whether it’s inside info, updates about the drop date, an exclusive teaser/trailer, easter egg hints, maps or a sneak peak at the game play. Showcase some early reviews, or introduce the characters. Anything that gets redditors psyched to play is a one up in our book.
3. Lean into Reddit’s rich gaming culture.
Show gamers on Reddit that you get how users are talking and behaving around your franchise. Lean into memes by creating your own, reference glitches or features that get the community talking. Feature fan art created by passionate redditors. Clip together insane gameplay compilations from the community. Even address complaints as a means to let the community know you’re listening.
Gamers appreciate when brands join in and play along. So don’t miss this opportunity while you prep for your next game launch.
Ready to get started?
Contributors:
JM Davirro, Senior Creative Strategist, KarmaLab
Meera Deva, Marketing Lead, Global Customer Marketing
Lore Oxford, Senior Lead, Global Insights
Sources:
1Talk Shoppe / Reddit, Magic of Reddit, US, Nov 2021
2Reddit internal via Attest, U.S., n=1000, 18+, Monthly Reddit Users who have browsed gaming content in the past 6 months, Feb 2023
3GWI Core, USA, Q4 2022
4Reddit Internal via Mode, May 2023